Benjy's Bad Day
by Marie S Zachary
Summary: Benjy is having a really bad day. Sharona and Monk comfort him at the end of the day


Disclamier: Do I own Monk?... no

Do I own Sharona... no

Do I own Benjy... no

Do I own Plopster... yes

* * *

Benjy woke up one morning having a stomach-ache. He groaned.  
"I had to have a stomach-ache on a Saturday," he thought to himself, "so unfair"

At breakfast he spilled his orange soda all over himself  
"Ugh," he yelled  
His toast was burned. His eggs were runny and his tummy still hurt. Since Sharona was out helping Mr. Monk he figured he'd turn on the telly and maybe play a little play-station but the tv was shut down. Apartentally it was broken or something, he thought. So he called his friend Ricky. His friend it turned out was in the hospital. He had been diognosed with stomach cancer and Benjy found out through Ricky's older sister Rachel.  
"GOD," he yelled, "WHAT MORE CAN GO WRONG TODAY"  
As he yelled that he noticed that he had stepped in some dog poop.  
"Plopster no," he yelled, "bad dog"  
He cleaned the accident and then the dog had another accident.  
"NO," he yelled at Plopster giving him a little swat, "BAD DOG"  
Plopster however wouldn't take that lying down. He bit Benjy on the wrist

Benjy sat down on the couch and cried. It had been a really bad morning.  
The phone rang shortly there after.  
"Hello?"  
It was his girlfriend calling. She was mad at him because he forgot her birthday

"Look Lisa I'm sorry. I'm having a bad day"  
"Oh poor you," she said, "maybe you wouldn't have a bad day if you weren't such a dweeb"  
"Hey I'm not a dweeb"  
"We'll talk later," she told him, "and you owe me an apology for the way you acted the other day"  
"Come on," Benjy said, "you ignored me anyway"  
But it fell on deaf ears. She had already hung up.  
Benjy decided to call and order some pizza. Unfortionately when the pizza got there he realized he didn't have the money to pay for it and that caused him a major tounge lashing from the delivery guy. The guy left the pizza there though but he gave him cheese pizza not peperoni like he ordered. Benjy normally liked cheese pizza but he wanted peperoni this time.

Just when he thought the day couldn't get any worse it did. He heard something on the radio about something that happened years ago. According to the report the guy who caused the incident tricked Benjy into letting him borrow his pocketknife. Benjy knew it was the guy. He imediately recognized his voice. "No! No this cannot be happening," he yelled.  
After that he went to take Plopster for a walk. Plopster on the other hand had different ideas. He was mad at Benjy and fought him all the way  
"Come on Plopster," Benjy encouraged.

Plopster was having none of it. That dog could hold a grudge.  
"Plopster come on," Benjy whined  
Plopster looked at Benjy and dug his heals into the ground.  
"Why are you doing this," Benjy asked as if the dog could answer him. It was obvious though.  
"Look Plopster if you come with me I'll give you a yummy"  
Begrudgingly Plopster came with him. Before he could do anything though Benjy got soaked by a sprinkler system.  
"DAMNIT THE WATER'S FREAZING," he yelled. Plopster started barking his head off.  
"You think that's funny," Benjy yelled, "oh yeah really funny"  
He walked the dog and went in to take a hot shower. Unfortionately the hot water heater wasn't working. He could only take a cold bath. He ate another slice of pizza which by now was cold and tasted terrible. After getting done with the pizza he started feeling very itchy. He noticed he had a rash on his stomach.

The phone rang  
"Hello?"  
It was his dad calling with some more bad news. The camping trip they were going on together had to be canceled.  
"Why," he whined. He was really looking forward to the trip  
"Some business situation came up Benj," his dad told him, "we can reschedule"  
"Okay…love you dad"  
"Love you buddy"  
"Yeah right," Benjy said as he hung up and started to cry. Just then Sharona came in along with Monk.

"Hey honey," she told him, "looks like you're having a rough day"  
"That's an understatement," he said  
"Want to tell me what happened," she asked stroking his hair.  
"First I woke up with a tummy-ache," Benjy began, "and it had to be on a Saturday. It couldn't have been on a weekday so I could miss school but a Saturday"  
"Yikes," Monk said, "that doesn't sound too good"  
"Then I spilled orange soda all over myself"  
"Ugh," Sharona empathized

"Not to mentioned my breakfast was burned and runny and the tv isn't working"  
"Yeah we've been having some problems," Sharona explained, "but that will be fixed by tomorrow"  
"Ricky has stomach cancer," he continued  
"Oh baby I am so sorry," Sharona said, "but he's young and at that age people have a good chance of survival"  
"Really?"  
"Yeah"  
"So Lisa's mad at me because I forgot her birthday and we had a fight a few days ago. She ignored me but she's still mad at me"  
Monk nodded wisely  
"I know that feeling," Monk said  
"What, Trudy used to get mad at you," Benjy asked  
"She got mad at me one time," he responded, "and it was not a good feeling"  
"Either way it's not a good feeling," Benjy said with a sigh  
"So what else happened today"  
"I stepped in dog poop, Plopster bit me when I disciplined him for having an accident"

"Wait a sec," Sharona said, "honey Plopster is very old. He can't help having accidents"  
"He's only 10"

"No. Benjy to dogs every year for them is like 7 years for us. So if Plopster is 10 which he is that would make him 70," Monk explained  
"Really," Benjy asked, "I didn't know that"  
"So what happened after"  
"So then I order pizza but I don't have the money. The pizza delivery guy rips into me and leaves the pizza here. Well guess what. It's cheese pizza and I ordered peperoni pizza"  
"Ugh," Sharona sighed empathcally, "seems like you had a really hard day"  
"I **WISH **that was it. I really wish that was it but that wasn't it. That wasn't even close to it"

"Want to continue," Monk asked, "what happened"  
"Okay. You're so going to hate me for this or at least get mad but here goes-"  
"I would never hate you Benjy. You're like a son to me. How could I feel anything but love for you"  
"When I was seven years old I was on a camping trip. When I got home some guy came up to me and explained he'd locked his keys in his car. Could he borrow my pocket knife to open the door. I didn't think anything of it. I was waiting for my mom to pick me up. Well to make a long story short that guy was the bomber. I found that out on the radio today. He used the pocket knife to open up the car door and put the bomb in. If I had been more smarter your wife would still be alive"

"Benjy," Monk told him putting his hands on Benjy's shoulders gently, "I want you to listen to me and listen very careful. Are you listening?"  
"Yes Mr. Monk I'm listening"  
"Good. You are in no way shape or form responsible for what happened"  
"B-but I gave him my pocket knife"  
"Benjy," Sharona said, "he would have found some way to get that car door open pocket knife or no pocket knife."  
"It is the responsibility of an adult to know better then to decieve a child," Monk added, "it is not the responsibility of a child to know when they are being decieved. Do you understand what I'm saying?"  
"Yes. I understand"  
"Do you remember anything about this guy"  
"ADRIAN," Sharona scolded, "now is not the time. He had a rotten day"  
"Sorry… but can we talk when you're feeling better?"  
"Of course," Benjy told him  
Then he finished telling them about the rest of his day.

After a special dinner, a lot of conversation and a trip to the movies Benjy did feel a lot better.  
"Hey Benj," Sharona said  
"Yeah mom?"  
"Tomorrow… how about a **funday-Sunday?"  
**"There's going to be a party at church tomorrow," Benjy showed her the calender, "how about next Sunday"  
"It's a date," she told him


End file.
